Device for displaying a course of a process of at least one railway safety unit, and railway safety system having such a device

ABSTRACT

A device displays a course of a process of at least one railway safety unit. While using at least one device controller, process data supplied by the at least one railway safety unit, are converted by dual-channel processing into first and second image data of the course of the process to be displayed. The image data are output to be displayed on a data display unit. In order to simplify the displaying of the course of the process, a pair of display spectacles having a first and a second display is used as a data display unit. The first display displays a first representation of the first image data delivered thereto that is visually detectable by the right eye, and the second display displays a second representation of the second image data delivered thereto that is visually detectable by the left eye.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional of patent application Ser. No.15/570,157, filed Oct. 27, 2017; which was a § 371 national stage filingof international application No. PCT/EP2016/057179, filed Apr. 1, 2016,which designated the United States; this application also claims thepriority, under 35 U.S.C. § 119, of German patent application No. DE 102015 208 273, filed May 5, 2015; the prior applications are herewithincorporated by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The redundancy computer principle having a fail-safe computer as acomparator is currently an established method if a safe display isrequired for an operating and display system for electronic signal boxesor for relay signal boxes having remote control within the meaning ofCENELEC standard 50129 SIL 4.

A method of this kind is known, for example, from German patentapplication DE 43 32 143 A1 Here, process data supplied by at least onerailway safety unit (points, signal, crossing, etc.) is converted usingtwo computers, which are not fail-safe (operator station computer andreference computer) by means of dual-channel processing into first andsecond image data of the course of the process to be displayed. Theoperator station computer and the reference computer therefore formprocessing channels in which the supplied process data—in other words,the same original data—is converted independently of each other into thefirst and second image data of the course of the process to bedisplayed, with only the first image data being output for display on adata display unit, however. In order to check whether the first imagedata output for display has not been falsified, separate test datareduced from the data volume is formed by way of the first and secondimage data according to a mathematical or other imaging method that isknown per se. The test data is then checked by means of the comparatorfor content matching, with any deviations indicating the presence of afault. In the case of the safety-critical operating and display system,the content of the image memory connected downstream of the graphicssystem is therefore read out, a signature is formed and compared in thesafe computer with a signature formed in the same way by a referencecomputer. Screen buffer errors or computing errors due to memory errors,which would lead to misrepresentation, should be revealed thereby.

The invention relates to a method for displaying a course of a processof at least one railway safety unit, wherein while using at least onedevice control, process data supplied by the at least one railway safetyunit is converted by means of dual-channel processing into first andsecond image data of the course of the process to be displayed, and isoutput to be displayed on a data display unit.

A method of this kind is known, for example, from the introduction tothe description of German patent application acknowledged above, DE 4332 143 A1. In this known method, dual-channel processing occurs by meansof two device controls that are completely independent of each other,and the first and second image data is alternately connected to the onedata display unit. The changeover frequency is about 1 Hz. As long asthe two device controls deliver matching image data to the data displayunit, designated therein as a display device, the observer is given astationary image. This is an indication of the image data and itsdisplayed representation corresponding with the course of the process.If the image data output on the data display unit differs from eachother, however, the representation, or parts of the representation, ofthe image data flash in rhythm with the changeover frequency. Thisinforms an observer that the imparted image of the course of the processdoes not match the actual course of the process. As a consequence ofthis he must henceforth no longer output safety-critical commands whosereliability is no longer being checked by a signal box. Additionalindicators are required here to indicate to the user that therepresentation is actually being alternately fed from the two devicecontrols and does not emanate, for instance due to an error, from justone of the device controls.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Taking this as a starting point, the invention is based on the object ofsimplifying displaying of the course of a process.

This object is achieved by a method, wherein a pair of display goggleshaving a first and a second display is used as a data display unit,wherein the first display displays a first representation of the firstimage data delivered thereto that is visually detectable by the righteye, and wherein the second display displays a second representation ofthe second image data delivered thereto that is visually detectable bythe left eye.

The observer can now advantageously determine without additionalindicators whether both the representation of the first image data andthe representation of the second image data is being displayed for him.As a result of his capacity for sensory binocular vision, in particularfor stereoscopic vision, the observer is also capable of determiningwhether the representations being displayed for him are identical.

Use of the display goggles having a first and a second display as thedata display unit therefore offers the option of using the observer as asafe comparator because the first and second image data is firstlygenerated in different ways—namely in a dual-channel manner, in otherwords using two independent processing channels of the at least onedevice control, and then supplied to the display goggles and displayedby these in the form of two redundant representations. Since theobserver can visually perceive the two redundant representationssimultaneously, he can identify errors, which are produced during theconversion of the process data into image data, but also errors whichare produced only when the image data is displayed.

Display goggles having a first and a second display are taken to mean,in particular, a visual data display unit secured to the head, “HMD”(Head-Mounted Display) which presents the representations of the firstand second image data either on two near-to-eye screens or projects themdirectly onto the retinas of the two eyes of the observer (the user ofthe display goggles).

The principle of the inventive safe display therefore lies in displaygoggles being used in which a right-hand and a left-hand image of thecourse of the process to be displayed are generated separately for theright and left eyes, wherein the observer's (the user of the displaygoggles) capacity for binocular vision, in particular for stereoscopicvision, is used for reliable comparison.

Where with the conventional method known from document DE 43 32 143 A1the observer remains outside in the case of error detection and only oneimage is displayed for him on just one screen (right and left eyes seethe same screen), with the inventive method the binocular, in particularstereoscopic, capacities of the user can be incorporated by the use ofthe display goggles fitted with two data display units. The user of thedisplay goggles checks the visual matching of two different displays inthat representations of the display data that have each been generatedin different ways—in other words, displays—having the alleged samecontent are displayed for the right and left eyes. If there is a displayerror in one of the two representations, then there is no overlapping ofthe same information in the binocular, in particular stereoscopic, view,so the user can identify the error.

For this purpose, the representations to be displayed of the first andsecond image data, which correspond to images of the course of theprocess, are calculated twice and delivered by two communicationschannels to the two different data display units. Display errors of thehardware can therefore be revealed by the redundant construction of thedisplays. The redundant processing channels can be designed in the formof an arithmetic unit or on two device controls in the form of twoarithmetic units (for example “operator station computer” and “referencecomputer”). The first and second image data can therefore be calculatedon one arithmetic unit or on two separate arithmetic units.

A second arithmetic unit (“reference computer”) as well as a safecomparator can thereby be omitted with the inventive method. Thisreduces the complexity of the system significantly.

It is regarded as advantageous if the supplied process data is convertedin sections of the dual-channel processing into right-hand and left-handimage data which correspond to images of the course of the processgenerated from the same perspective for monoscopic examination.

The right-hand image data can then be output as the first image data andthe left-hand image data can be output as the second image data. Theobserver can then perceive the two images of the course of the processat least simultaneously (first stage of sensory binocular vision), but,as a rule, merged to form a single image (second stage of sensorbinocular vision).

Alternatively, the right-hand and the left-hand image data can beconverted in further sections of the dual-channel processing intofurther right-hand and left-hand image data which correspond to imagesof the course of the process generated from different perspectives forstereoscopic examination.

The further right-hand image data can then be output as the first imagedata and the further left-hand image data can be output as the secondimage data. The observer can then perceive the two images of the courseof the process merged to form a single image (third stage of sensorybinocular vision).

The inventive method can therefore also immediately be used for fittingthree-dimensional user interfaces in a virtual or expanded reality witha safe display because even if the first and second image data to bedisplayed, which corresponds to two separate images of the course of theprocess, is calculated offset in perspective for the stereoscopiceffect, errors which are produced during the conversion of the processdata into the image data, but also errors which are only produced whenthe image data is displayed, immediately come to light in thestereoscopic view as well—in other words with the merging of the twoimages to form a single spatial image.

The invention also relates to a device for displaying a course of aprocess of at least one railway safety unit having at least one devicecontrol and having a data display unit, wherein the at least one devicecontrol is suitably designed for converting process data supplied by theat least one railway safety unit by means of dual-channel processinginto first and second image data of the course of the process to bedisplayed and for outputting this for display on the data display unit.

The invention is based on the object of improving a device known fromthe introduction to the description of the German patent applicationacknowledged above, DE 43 32 143 A1, such that it enables simplifieddisplaying of the course of the process.

To achieve this object, with an arrangement of this kind the datadisplay device is a pair of display goggles having a first and a seconddisplay, wherein the first display is suitably designed for displaying afirst representation of the first image data delivered thereto that isvisually detectable by the right eye and wherein the second display issuitably designed for displaying a second representation of the secondimage data delivered thereto that is visually detectable by the lefteye.

The inventive arrangement logically has the same advantages as havealready been disclosed above in conjunction with the description of theinventive method.

In addition, the invention relates to a railway safety system having adevice of this kind.

Other features which are considered as characteristic for the inventionare set forth in the appended claims.

Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodiedin a device for displaying a course of a process of at least one railwaysafety unit, and a railway safety system having such a device, it isnevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, sincevarious modifications and structural changes may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention and within the scope andrange of equivalents of the claims.

The construction and method of operation of the invention, however,together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be bestunderstood from the following description of specific embodiments whenread in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a railway safety system having afirst embodiment of the inventive device for displaying a course of aprocess of at least one railway safety unit; and

FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a further inventive railway safetysystem having a second embodiment of the inventive device for displayinga course of a process of at least one railway safety unit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The railway safety system 1; 101 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has at least onerailway safety unit 2; 102, a device 3; 103 for displaying a course of aprocess of the at least one railway safety unit 1; 101 and separate datatransfer channels 4.1, 4.2; 104.1, 104.2, The at least one railwaysafety unit 1; 101, which can be points, a signal, a crossing, etc., ofa signal box or a train control system, is suitably designed foroutputting process data 5.1, 5.2; 105.1, 105.2, corresponding to itscourse of the process, via the separate data transfer channels 4.1, 4.2;104.1, 104.2, to the device 3; 103. The device 3; 103 for displaying thecourse of the process is suitably designed for displaying the course ofthe process of the at least one railway safety unit 1; 101 using thesupplied process data 5.11, 5.2; 105.1, 105.2.

For this purpose, the device 3; 103 has a data display unit 8, 108 wornby a user 7; 107 (observer, for example dispatcher) on his head, andseparate further data transfer channels 9.1, 9.2; 109.1, 109.2 fordisplaying the course of the process a device control 6; 106.

The at least one device control 6; 106 is suitably designed forconverting the process data 5.1, 5.2; 105.1, 105.2 supplied by the atleast one railway safety unit 1; 101 by means of dual-channel processinginto first and second image data 11.1, 11.2; 111.1, 111.2 in the form ofvideo data of the course of the process to be displayed, and foroutputting for display on the data display unit 8; 108.

The data display unit 8; 108 is a pair of display goggles in the form ofa Head-Mounted Display (HMD for short) having two separate displays12.1, 12.2; 112.1, 112.2 in the form of two separate screens. A first12.1; 112.1 of the two displays is suitably designed for displaying afirst representation 14.1; 114.1 of the first image data 11.1; 111.1delivered thereto that is visually detectable by the right eye 13.1. Thesecond 12.2; 112.2 of the two displays is suitably designed fordisplaying a second representation 14.2; 114.2 of the second image data11.2; 111.2 delivered thereto that is visually detectable by the lefteye 13.2; 113.2.

The at least one device control 6; 106 is suitably designed forconverting the supplied process data 5.1, 5.2; 105.1, 105.2 in sections15.1, 15.2; 115.1, 115.2 of the dual-channel processing into right-handand left-hand image data which correspond to images of the course of theprocess generated from the same perspective for onoscopic examination.

In the first embodiment of the device 3, shown in FIG. 1 for displayingthe course of a process, the device control 6 is suitably designed foroutputting the right-hand image data as first image data and theleft-hand image data as second image data 11.1, 11.2 on the displaygoggles 8.

In contrast to this, the device control 106 in the second embodiment,shown in FIG. 2, of the device 103 for displaying the course of theprocess is suitably designed for converting the right-hand and left-handimage data in further sections 116.1, 116.2 of the processing intofurther right-hand and left-hand image data which correspond to imagesof the course of the process generated from different perspectives forstereoscopic examination. In contrast to the device control 6 shown inFIG. 1, the device control 106 shown in FIG. 2 is suitably designed foroutputting further right-hand image data as the first image data 112.1and the further left-hand image data as the second image data 112.2 onthe display goggles.

The inventive method is accordingly carried out as follows.

By way of the separate data transfer channels 4.1, 4.2; 104.1, 104.2,the at least one railway safety unit 2; 102 supplies, preferablycontinuously in each case, the same process data 5.1, 5.2; 105.1, 105.2to the device 3; 103 for displaying the course of the process.

This process data 3; 103 supplied by the at least one railway safetyunit is processed using the at least one device control 6; 106, designedas an arithmetic unit, on dual channels, in other words, by means of twoseparate processing channels 18.1, 18.2; 118.1, 118.2 of the devicecontrol. The supplied process data 5.1, 5.2; 105.1, 105.2 is convertedin the sections 15.1, 15.2; 115.1, 115.2 of the dual-channel processinginto the right-hand and left-hand image data 11.r, 11.l; 111.r, 111.l inthe form of video data which corresponds to images of the course of theprocess generated from the same perspective for monoscopic examination.The supplied process data 5.1; 105.1 is therefore converted in section15.1; 115.1 by the first processing channel 18.1; 118.1 into theright-hand image data 11.r; 111.r. And the process data 5.2; 105.2,which resembles the process data 5.1; 105.1 is converted in section15.2; 115.2 by the second processing channel 18.2; 118.2 into theleft-hand image data 11.l; 111.l.

In the first embodiment of the device 3, shown in FIG. 1, the right-handimage data 11.r is then output as the first image data 11.1 and theleft-hand image data 11.l is output as the second image data 11.2 viathe further separate data transfer channels 9.1, 9.2 to the displaygoggles used as a data display unit 8.

The first display 12.1 of the display goggles 8 then shows a firstrepresentation 14.1 of the first image data 11.1 delivered thereto asvideo data that is visually detectable by the right eye 13.1, and thesecond display 12.2 of the display goggles 8 displays a secondrepresentation 14.2 of the second image data 11.2 delivered thereto asvideo data that is visually detectable by the left eye 13.2.

The observer 7 wearing the display goggles 8 perceives the two displayedrepresentations 14.1, 14.2 of the image data 11.1, 11.2—in other words,the two images of the course of the process—at least simultaneously,but, as a rule, merged to form a single image.

In the second embodiment 103 of the device shown in FIG. 2, theright-hand and left-hand image data 111.r, 111.l is converted in thefurther sections 116.1, 116.2 of the dual-channel processing into thefurther right-hand and left-hand image data 111.R, 111.L whichcorrespond to images of the course of the process generated fromdifferent perspectives for stereoscopic examination. The right-handimage data 111.r is therefore converted in the further section 116.1 bythe first processing channel 118.1 into the further right-hand imagedata 111.R. And the left-hand image data 111.l is converted in thesection 116.2 by the second processing channel 118.2 into the furtherleft-hand image data 111.L.

The further right-hand image data 111.R is then output as the firstimage data 111.1 and the further left-hand image data 111.L is output asthe second image data 111.2 on the display goggles.

Here too the first display 112.1 of the display goggles 108 accordinglydisplays a first representation 114.1 of the first image data 111.1delivered thereto as video data that is visually detectable by the righteye 113.1, and the second display 112.2 of the display goggles 108displays a second representation 114.2 of the second image data 111.2delivered thereto as video data that is visually detectable by the lefteye 113.2.

The observer 107 wearing the display goggles 108 perceives the twodisplayed representations 114.1, 114.2 of the image data 111.1, 111.2—inother words, the two images of the course of the process—at leastsimultaneously here as well, but, as a rule, merged to form a singlespatial image.

The user 7; 107 of the display goggles 8; 108 checks the visual matchingof the two redundant representations 14.1, 14.2; 114.1, 114.2. For thispurpose, he checks whether the visual information of the two displayed,supposedly identical images of the course of the process actuallyoverlap. In the case of an error during conversion of the process data5.1; 5.2; 105.1, 105.2 into the image data 11.1, 11.2; 111.1, 111.2 orin the case of an error in the representation of the image data 11.1,11.2; 111.1, 111.2, there is no overlap of the visual information in thebinocular, in particular stereoscopic, view, so the observer 7; 107 canidentify the error.

1. A device for displaying a course of a process of at least one railwaysafety unit, the device comprising: a data display unit; at least onedevice control suitably configured for converting process data suppliedby the at least one railway safety unit by means of dual-channelprocessing into first image data and second image data of the course ofthe process to be displayed and for outputting the first image data andsecond image data for display on said data display unit; and said datadisplay unit being a pair of display goggles having a first display anda second display, said first display being suitably configured fordisplaying a first representation of the first image data deliveredthereto that is visually detectable by a right eye and said seconddisplay being suitably configured for displaying a second representationof the second image data delivered thereto that is visually detectableby said left eye.
 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein said atleast one device control is suitably configured for converting theprocess data in sections of the dual-channel processing into right-handimage data and left-hand image data which correspond to images of thecourse of the process generated from a same perspective for monoscopicexamination.
 3. The device according to claim 2, wherein said at leastone device control is configured for outputting the right-hand imagedata as the first image data and the left-hand image data as the secondimage data to said display goggles.
 4. The device according to claim 2,wherein said at least one device control is configured for convertingthe right-hand and left-hand image data in further sections of thedual-channel processing into further left-hand image data and furtherright-hand image data which correspond to image data of the course ofthe process generated from different perspectives for stereoscopicexamination.
 5. The device according to claim 4, wherein said at leastone device control is configured for outputting the further right-handimage data as the first imaged data and the further left-hand image dataas the second image data to said display goggles.
 6. A railway safetysystem, comprising: at least one railway safety unit configured foroutputting process data corresponding to a course of a process; a devicefor displaying the course of the process of said at least one railwaysafety unit using the process data, the device containing: a datadisplay unit; at least one device control suitably configured forconverting the process data supplied by said at least one railway safetyunit by means of dual-channel processing into first image data andsecond image data of the course of the process to be displayed and foroutputting the first image and the second image data for display on saiddata display unit; and said data display unit being a pair of displaygoggles having a first display and a second display, said first displaybeing suitably configured for displaying a first representation of thefirst image data delivered thereto that is visually detectable by aright eye and said second display being suitably configured fordisplaying a second representation of the second image data deliveredthereto that is visually detectable by said left eye.